Domaine de la Butte

Jacky Blot acquired Domaine de la Butte in 2002 as a Cabernet Franc complement to his white wine work at Domaine de la Taille aux Loups in Montlouis-sur-Loire. By 2002 Taille aux Loups had become one of the central Loire Chenin Blanc estates of the 1990s revival, and Blot sought a parallel project that would extend his parcellary discipline to red wine in Bourgueil. The Bourgueil estate was named for the butte, the single hillside that defines the property and around which all the vineyards are arranged. Jacky directed both estates from 2002 until his death in May 2023, when his son Jean-Philippe Blot took over both operations. The 2002 acquisition gave Blot a cross-Touraine producer footprint that few Loire producers achieve, with serious work on both Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc under a single family direction.

• Acquired by Jacky Blot in 2002 as a Cabernet Franc complement to his Chenin Blanc work at Domaine de la Taille aux Loups in Montlouis
• Estate named for the butte, the single hillside around which all the vineyards are arranged
• Jacky directed both estates from 2002 until his death in May 2023
• Son Jean-Philippe Blot took over both Domaine de la Butte and Taille aux Loups after Jacky's death in 2023

The estate covers fourteen hectares arranged around a single named hillside in Bourgueil, with the vineyards extending from the base of the slope through the mid-slope tuffeau hillside to the upper limestone-rich summit. The base of the slope (Pied) sits on sandy gravel alluvial soils close to the Bourgueil floor and produces the lighter, fruit-forward style typical of those terraces. The mid-slope (Mi-Pente) sits on the tuffeau hillside that defines Bourgueil's most age-worthy soils, producing structured, savory Cabernet Franc capable of long cellaring. The upper slope (Haut de la Butte) reaches the limestone-rich summit and produces the estate's most mineral, structured expression. The vertical arrangement of the vineyards across a single slope, with the named cuvées corresponding to slope position, is unusual in the Loire and gives the estate a coherent didactic dimension absent from most multi-parcel Bourgueil estates.

• Fourteen hectares arranged around a single named hillside (the butte) in Bourgueil
• Pied: base of the slope on sandy gravel alluvial soils; lighter, fruit-forward style
• Mi-Pente: mid-slope tuffeau hillside; structured, savory, age-worthy
• Haut de la Butte: upper limestone-rich summit; the estate's most mineral, structured expression

The estate has been certified organic since the late 2000s, after a long preceding organic discipline that was already in place when Jacky Blot acquired the property in 2002. Biodynamic preparations are applied to the vineyards on a calendar tied to the lunar cycle, though the estate has not sought Demeter biodynamic certification. The vineyard work uses cover crops between the rows, manual canopy management, and minimal soil disturbance. Manual harvest is standard across the named parcels, with sorting at the cellar before vinification. In the cellar, fermentations are conducted with indigenous yeasts in concrete vats. The Cabernet Franc is partially whole-cluster on the mid-slope and upper-slope cuvées (adding structure and aromatic complexity) and destemmed on the Pied cuvée (preserving fruit-forward freshness). Élevage runs twelve to twenty months depending on the cuvée.

• Certified organic since the late 2000s; biodynamic preparations applied without seeking Demeter certification
• Cover crops, manual canopy management, and minimal soil disturbance across the working year
• Manual harvest with sorting at the cellar before vinification; indigenous yeast fermentations in concrete vats
• Cabernet Franc partially whole-cluster on mid-slope and upper-slope cuvées; destemmed on Pied (fruit-forward base-slope expression)

Domaine de la Butte's range is built around the three slope-position cuvées that give the estate its distinctive identity. Pied (base of the slope, sandy gravel) is the most approachable and earliest-drinking expression, with bright red fruit, light tannins, and the appellation's classic Cabernet Franc pencil-shaving aromatics; it is the most widely available of the three cuvées internationally. Mi-Pente (mid-slope tuffeau) is the volume cuvée from the heart of the appellation's most age-worthy soils, with darker fruit, fine tannins, and the structure for ten or more years of development; it is widely regarded as the estate's most complete expression of Bourgueil tuffeau. Haut de la Butte (upper slope, limestone-rich) is the flagship cuvée from the limestone-rich summit, with the longest élevage and the most mineral, structured profile, built for fifteen-plus years of cellaring. A small-volume Le Pinacle bottling adds an experimental dimension to the range in some vintages.

• Pied: approachable, fruit-forward, early-drinking sandy-gravel base-slope cuvée with light tannins and pencil-shaving aromatics
• Mi-Pente: volume cuvée from mid-slope tuffeau heart of the appellation; structured, savory, 10-plus year aging trajectory
• Haut de la Butte: flagship limestone-rich summit cuvée; longest élevage, most mineral and structured, 15-plus years of cellaring
• Le Pinacle: small-volume experimental bottling in some vintages, adding an additional dimension to the range

Domaine de la Butte sits among the central reference estates of modern Bourgueil, alongside Catherine et Pierre Breton, Domaine de la Chevalerie, and Domaine Yannick Amirault. The distinctive contribution is the single-hillside parcellary arrangement, with the three named cuvées corresponding to slope position (Pied, Mi-Pente, Haut de la Butte) providing a coherent didactic structure rarely available in a Loire red estate. The combination of Jacky Blot's commercial sophistication, the established Taille aux Loups brand cross-marketing, and the parcel-specific bottlings has made Domaine de la Butte one of the most widely distributed quality Bourgueil references in specialist circuits internationally. The transition to Jean-Philippe Blot's direction after Jacky's death in May 2023 has been closely watched, with continuity in the parcellary discipline and the slope-position cuvée structure.

• Central reference estate in modern Bourgueil alongside Catherine et Pierre Breton, Domaine de la Chevalerie, and Domaine Yannick Amirault
• Single-hillside parcellary arrangement with three slope-position cuvées provides coherent didactic structure rare in a Loire red estate
• Cross-marketing with the established Taille aux Loups brand has made the estate one of the most widely distributed quality Bourgueils internationally
• Transition to Jean-Philippe Blot's direction after Jacky's death in May 2023 has maintained continuity in the parcellary discipline